MANHATTAN – AUGUST 1899

Muggs had been without cocaine for a few hours now. Jack had seen him go much longer than that in the Refuge, but tonight was different.

Once Doc came back in the girls' room with a cup full of cold water for Colleen, Muggs had walked out. It was as though she were Doc's responsibility. Doc had tried to get Muggs to stay, but the former Brooklyn newsie was out the door and on the fire escape to smoke a cigarette in less than ten seconds.

Medda offered Muggs laudanum, a shot of whiskey, hash, and even an invitation to her bedroom…anything to ease his mind. He ignored her. What he wanted was cocaine. He didn't want to be calmed down.

Jack was annoyed, but not entirely shocked. He'd expected this kind of reaction, but he hadn't expected Muggs to be so cruel about it.

He'd taken the cigarette case from Colleen's things, as well as the matches she kept under her bed. Lighting one, he took a long drag and let the smoke burn his throat.

"She's a goddamn idiot for going with them," Muggs had told Alexei as they stood on the fire escape, passing the cigarette back and forth like an opium pipe. "Should've suspected something when they knew her name. She's been a fool all her life. Going with anyone for the right price, just like our ma."

"She's a smart girl, Muggs," Alexei said, staring off at the city. He didn't like the way his friend was talking. Something about it made him uneasy.

"I taught her to be smart," Muggs replied, shaking his head. "At least, I thought I had."

Alexei narrowed his eyes, staring down at the cigarette Muggs passed him. "You abandoned her, and now you've stolen from her," he said in a hoarse voice, handing the cigarette back without inhaling.

"Don't you start with me," Muggs said. "I didn't abandon her. She chose to leave, remember?"

Alexei didn't reply.

Muggs finished the cigarette and snubbed it out against the railing, flicking it over the side. "Okay, you ready to go?" He asked, wiping his nose with his sleeve. "I gotta get more cocaine, and by the time we get to the pier, the harbor cops will already be patrolling."

Staring at him in slight astonishment, Alexei's mouth was agape.

"Come on, we gotta go now," Muggs continued, tapping Alexei's arm. He held up Colleen's silver case. "We can sell this. Get some more opium while we're at it."

"That's Colleen's," Alexei replied, staring down at the case. "You have to give it back."

"Nah, she probably stole it. Colleen's an ace pickpocket," Muggs laughed. "Only thing the little bitch was smart about."

Alexei just stared at him, glassy-eyed.

Muggs' smirk faded. "Alexei, don't you dare start crying."

Pursing his lips, Alexei held back the outpour of emotions that were about to spill. He couldn't believe Muggs was talking like this. Acting like this. Only Alexei was sure this wasn't acting. This was all frightfully real.

Muggs rolled his eyes, pushing past him. "Okay, whatever. Fucking cry, then."

Dr. Fuller almost ran into Muggs on his way in through the fire escape.

"Where are you going?" Dr. Fuller whispered, looking from Colleen asleep in her bed to the girl's dry-eyed older brother.

"What are you doing here?" Muggs asked.

"I was sent for," Dr. Fuller replied, keeping his voice low. "To look after your sister. You know she could have died last night." He paused, inspecting Muggs' dilated pupils and reddened eyes, causing Muggs to lean back slightly. "Are you sober?"

"As a priest," Muggs replied, putting a new cigarette between his lips, and lighting it.

Dr. Fuller squinted, giving Muggs an incredulous look. "You're not that good an actor."

Muggs winked. "You're not that good a doctor."

As Muggs walked out of the room, Alexei slid in through the window, shutting it behind him. He exchanged a polite hello with Fuller, inquiring about how Colleen was doing.

Doc was outside the theater, talking in the alleyway with Jack. It was the first time Jack had seen Doc smoking, and it was an odd sight to say the least.

"Tomato soup. Always tomato soup," Doc was saying. "My mother swore by it as a cure all. She'd fix it for any of us if we got sick. Colleen mentioned vegetable soup, and it got me thinking. It really did seem to work, somehow. Sick one day, well the next. All in our heads probably."

Jack laughed a little. "My mother gave us burnt bread and a bit of whiskey. That, or elderberry tea with lots of cinnamon. Seemed to do the trick alright."

"You miss her?"

"Everyday," Jack admitted, taking the cigarette from Doc. "It's the not the same with Sophie, though. She was too little. But I was really close with my ma. What about you?"

Doc nodded. "She was around a lot longer than my father. I swear, she had healing hands. Cured anyone who came to her, just like that. Light some candles, say a few prayers, and work her magic."

Jack raised his eyebrows. "Magic?"

"Mm-hm," Doc mumbled, taking a drag. He blew out the smoke and leaned against the wall. "She was superstitious, but Papa didn't mind. He had his colleagues. Mama had her spirits." Doc remained vague despite Jack's look of confusion. "Me, I don't know. Guess I prefer to work alone, without guidance, corporeal or otherwise."

"Henry finally fell asleep," Grim said, joining the two. "So, I came back to check on things. How's Colleen doing?"

"She's sleeping now," Doc replied with a yawn. "Dr. Fuller's with her."

Grim noticed Jack's expression and said, "What?"

"Won't Henry be scared if he wakes up?" Jack reminded him. "He's more attached to you than a branch on a tree."

Grim smiled slightly. "He'll be okay. Tide's there if he wakes up." He accepted the cigarette Jack offered him. "That kid's a heavy sleeper anyway. Definitely didn't get that from me."

"God, I remember Sophie crying almost every night after my ma died," Jack mused. "She was too scared to sleep alone. I had to hold her most nights."

Grim and Doc waited as Jack took a deep breath, sensing it wasn't easy for him to talk about such things.

"She had to do everything I did," Jack continued, cracking a small grin as he closed his eyes. "Wanted everything I had."

"Sophie looked up to you," Grim said, nodding fondly. "You were her hero."

Jack hung his head for a second, opening his eyes again. "Sophie was better than me in every way, though," he said, paraphrasing something his father once said to him. "She had it easier in this life." He took the cigarette from Grim. "That was before…"

"Before she became a whore, and you became a laudanum addict."

The voice was snide and intrusive. It came from the back of the alley, and the three turned in startlement toward the source.

Muggs spit on the ground, his appearance surprising them all. They didn't know how long he'd been standing there, how long he'd been listening. Jack reckoned it must've been for some time now.

"She gave it away to any newsie who would join the strike, just ask Spot Conlon," Muggs went on. "If she were smart, she would've charged 'em for it. Must of crossed her mind at least once. Alexei told me she came to him looking for work. So eager to use her body for dough. Just like Natalie," he said, aiming that insult at Grim.

Grim ignored Muggs and turned instead to Jack. "It was nice of Sarah to bake that bread. Maybe she could teach you a thing or two," he said, putting out the cigarette against the brick wall.

The last thing Grim wanted to do was get into a fight with a cocaine starved Muggs. Not now. Not here. If their fight in the Refuge was anything to go by, Grim would rather not fall into that trap again. He could easily imagine Muggs beating him to a bloody pulp, and perhaps take Jack and Doc out, too.

Muggs stepped out from the shadows, looking devilish in the moonlight. "How do you even know that kid's yours?"

Grim fumbled with lighting another cigarette and tried to block out all the cynicism in Muggs' voice. "Doc, you got a match? My light went out."

"You weren't the only street rat she was taking her clothes off for," Muggs said, beginning to sound increasingly threatening, like a boa constrictor slowly suffocating its prey.

Doc struck a match and lit Grim's cigarette as Grim held it in his lips. Exhaling smoke from his nose, Grim looked to Jack. "I should really quit. What kind of example am I setting?"

"You sure she was knocked up before the Refuge?" Muggs' voice boomed. "Maybe it was Whalen's or Snyder's bastard."

"Leave him alone, Muggs," Jack growled, finally confronting him for the other two. "Stop it!"

But Muggs was just getting started. "We all made trades in there. Natalie probably traded herself for a meal. Or maybe she let Snyder put his prick in her mouth for morphine." He eyed Doc menacingly.

"It's too hot out here," Grim said, wiping his forehead. "I don't feel well."

Doc and Jack were wrapped by Muggs' show, which was both frightening and terribly captivating at the same time. It gradually became apparent to all three of them that he had completely snapped. Muggs had been beat.

"Ain't that right, Doc?" Muggs said. "Ain't that all it took? Just get on your knees, and Snyder gives you whatever drug you want. Krause did it. McGurk did it." He looked at Jack. "You ever suck a dick for laudanum, Duane Street?

"Maybe some tea will help," Jack said to Grim, nodding to the theater door. "I can make some. Sophie might be wanting a cup, too."

Muggs sneered. "How about Mrs. Anderson? You ever let her climb on top of you just to feel alive again? It's like fucking your mother."

Grim eyed the ground. "Tea sounds good, Jack. Thank you."

"You ain't tough, Duane Street," Muggs pressed on. "You sold out cause you're weak."

Grim suddenly realized Muggs didn't want to fight. Not physically, anyway. This was purely psychological manipulation. He was talking about himself, and about what he'd experienced in the Refuge, as much as he was talking about Grim and the others.

Muggs looked directly at Grim. "And you're the most pathetic of all," he spat. "You're a fuckin' disappointment. Always letting everyone down. Cryin' about wanting a family so goddamn bad, so desperate to be loved."

Grim held his breath.

"Your pa didn't want you," Muggs said, his tone dropping. "Your ma didn't want you."

Muggs' eyes were welling up with tears. Jack could just see the water in his green eyes building in the slight moonlight. For a moment, he wondered if this was all just part of his act.

But then Jack saw Grim's own eyes. A tear slid down Grim's cheek as he stood there and patiently took everything Muggs had thrown at him.

Jack didn't know what to think.

But Grim was past the point of confusion. He'd seen right through the façade. There was something familiar about it, something he recognized. Betrayal. Fear. Pain.

"But you don't fuckin' care," Muggs said, his voice breaking. "And it scares you that you don't."

He said the last words as if he'd been thrown against the wall, and everything collapsed in him at once. Breathless. Gut-wrenching. Visceral.

"But I don't feel any different. I don't feel anything. It's like death," Muggs whispered, sounding more like a question. Then he added quietly, "I'm hurtin' for cocaine so bad."

Without another thought, Grim wrapped his arms around Muggs, hugging him tightly as if he were a small child.

The moment Muggs felt Grim's embrace, whatever composure he'd been maintaining failed, and he burst into tears. He didn't return the hug, just sort of stood there limp, as if not knowing what to do.

Jack couldn't quite believe what he was seeing. Muggs' shoulders were shaking, and he was sinking under the weight of his distress, so much so that Grim was holding him up more than he was hugging him.

His cries were deep and wounded, haunting Jack as he listened.

"I know," Grim said fiercely, unable to put one thought into a coherent sentence. "I know, Muggs. It's okay. I've got you. You're okay."

There was nothing Grim could say to stop his tears. Muggs' frenzied attempts to pull himself together slowed down, and he began sobbing into Grim's shoulder.

"God," Muggs cried, trembling as he closed his reddened eyes. Every ounce of strength left him. "I'm so scared. I'm so fucking scared for her, Grim."

Grim patted his back, still holding Muggs close. "I know you are, man," he said, shaking his head in disbelief. "Shh, it's okay," he repeated soothingly. "Colleen will be okay."

Muggs looked like he didn't want to let go.

There was nothing more to say. And for the first time in his life, Jack wanted to hug that desperate, frightened young man he'd learned for so long to fear.